ELECTIONS CANADA 2015 - VICTORY OF JUSTIN TRUDEAU

By Bernard Bujold- 
According to my vision of political life, there are two parts to any government anywhere in the world. Part 1, the election; and Part 2, the management. 
I love election part which I compare to a sports competition. The challenge is to predict the winner! 
I sensed a majority government by Justin Trudeau already two weeks before the voting day and on election day, Monday, October 19, I predicted at 6 pm (online at 7:30 p.m.) a majority of 180 MPs for Justin Trudeau, 108 MPs for Stephen Harper, 50 for Thomas Mulcair, and none for Gilles Duceppe ... 
I have not won in the details of the figures, but I won in the order the horses! 
Does Justin Trudeau will be a good Prime Minister? For him to prove it and fulfill it. 
I think Justin is someone that surprises and it makes me think of Donald Trump. 
The philosophy of the new Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, is similar directly to the leadership candidate of American Republicans, Donald Trump. Indeed, both advocate "Overcoming the fear of change and innovation through better effort." 
One may think that the present society is sympathetic to that philosophy and it is a safe bet that Donald Trump will be elected President of the United States, ensuring that the new politics in North America (Canada and USA) will become a case of self-confidence! 
Finally, I am very pleased with the re-election of Ruth Ellen Brosseau. I predicted her victory because she is a real good person who took seriously the responsibility that her voters had entrusted to her. 
Congratulations to all the candidates of the 2015 election, winners and losers, and for the rest: To be continued...
Photo 1: Canadian Parliament;
Photos 2 and 3: Horse racing on the Longchamps track;
Photo 4: Justin Trudeau;
Photo 5: Justin Trudeau and his wife;
Photo 6: Ruth Ellen Brosseau, Stephen Harper, Gilles Duceppe and Thomas Mulcair;
Photo 7: Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump;
Photo 8: Bernard Bujold at the polling Notre Dame Basilica Montreal;
SEE STORY CBC; 
SEE PHOTO ALBUM ELECTIONS; 
SEE PHOTOS OF VOTING DAY;

THE NEXT PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA IN 2015?

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1) - 
If there is a winner in the leaders' debate( Radio-Canada La Presse /Thursday September 25-2015)) and for who the answers were the most serious and the most feasible is Gilles Duceppe! Unfortunately the problem is that he can not mathematically be elected Prime Minister... 
The second best performance was the one of Stephen Harper who responded to questions giving precise answers without deviating from his campaign program. He was not innovative in his answers, playing defense, but he did not however make any mistakes that would have allowed his opponents to take advantage. 
The two losers will therefore be Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau who have not really answered the questions with a new approach but with words lines prepared in advance. They rather took advantage of the debate only to beg, and repeatedly throughout the debate, voters to vote for their respective parties without any real motive other than to replace the actual prime minister... 
One will to see the next surveys but because there is barely three weeks left of campaigning before October 19, there is every reason to believe that none of the candidates will succeed to win in front of his opponents and, by default, Stephen Harper will maintain its light momentum to be again re-elected Prime Minister of Canada. 
To be continued... 
Photo 1 and 6: The leaders' debate;
Photo 2: Gilles Duceppe;
Photo 3: Harper; Photo 4:
Thomas Mulcair;
Photo 5: Justin Trudeau;

ELECTION CANADA 2015 - THE NEXT PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA ?

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1) -
The first leaders' debate organized by Maclean's did not send anyone to the mat for the count. Harper had specific and serious answers; Thomas Mulcair performed well but failed to really score points; and Justin Trudeau had the look of a young star, elegant and energetic, but he had not the serious of the two veterans Mulcair and Harper. As for the other leader, she did not measure up to the other three... 
The question still remains unanswered at the moment for me: 
"I vote for who on next October 19, 2015 ?" 
Picture 1: Stephen Harper;
Picture 2: Thomas Mulcair;
Picture 3: Justin trudeau;
Picture 4: The four leader during the Maclean's debate;
SEE MACLEAN'S WEB SITE ;

ELECTIONS CANADA 2015

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1) - 
The launch of the 2015 election was missed by all counts, except perhaps Justin Trudeau who took advantage of the awkwardness of his opponents... 
The favorite to win, Thomas Mulcair, is reminiscent of Pauline Marois as he launched his campaign very nervously reading a text on screen and then refusing to answer questions from journalists. Although, in theory, he is the one that has the best chance to defeat Stephen Harper, it is also possible that he does what it is called in golf for identifying poor performance by a champion:"choked"! 
As for Stephen Harper, his first rally in Montreal was marked by protests and police arrests. Moreover, the obligation to book in advance for the fans their participation in Conservative rallies will most certainly be much criticized by the voters... 
Justin Trudeau is ultimately the only one who has not made a mistake on day one, but precisely because it has not really launched his campaign in Quebec. Better to do nothing than to screw up... 
As for Gilles Duceppe, he do not seems to have the wind in the sails and, increasingly, it is clear that he will not be a significant element in the campaign in Quebec against the other three leaders in contention. 
Conclusion: The election campaign is officially launched and, as in sport, all results are possible, especially surprises! 
Good campaign to all candidates and good election to all voters! 
Photo 1: Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair and Gilles Duceppe;
SEE STORY CBC (french);

GILLES DUCEPPE IS BACK ...

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1) - 
The return of Gilles Duceppe in politics was coordinated by Bernard Landry who negotiated the return while Pierre Karl Péladeau accepted the proposed strategy including meeting Gilles Duceppe in person to accept and confirm the details. 
Gilles Duceppe will be the new co-War General in the campaign for Quebec sovereignty siding with Pierre Karl Péladeau. Duceppe will be in Ottawa and PKP in the National Assembly, so of course if each of the two win the election with their respective party. Observers say of them that they are the hopes of last resort in the Quebec revolution against Ottawa. 
The new Gilles Duceppe at press conference has not really changed from the old, except that he may look a little rejuvenated visually... Duceppe gives the look of a man about 60 years old while he will be 68 years on next July 22. Stephen Harper is 55 years old; Thomas Mulcair will be 61 years on October 24; and Justin Trudeau is 43 years old. 
But if the look and speech of Duceppe did not change, the political map may be greatly transformed for Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau, and of course for Stephen Harper who is favored. A three-horse race has now become a race of four! And worse for Thomas Mulcair, losing even just a dozen ridings in Quebec to the Bloc could mean forgetting a minority government to be a mere Opposition, or worse the Second Opposition behind Justin Trudeau. 
And of course this scenario assumes that Gilles Duceppe will not get good results in the field. To resume the sport comparison by Duceppe during his press conference: "... An election campaign is like a football game! Everything is possible..." 
Fall is going to be an exciting season to watch on the politics side! 
To be continued... 
Photos 1: Gilles Duceppe, Pierre Karl Péladeau and Bernard Landry;
Photo 2: Gilles Duceppe, Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair;
Photo 3: Gilles Duceppe and Mario Beaulieu;
Photo 4: Gilles Duceppe and his wife;
SEE STORY LA PRESSE ;

POLITICS IN 2015...

By Bernard Bujold (LeStudio1) - 
Politics will be very active in 2015, not least due to the federal elections scheduled for next October. Several candidacies will be announced and discussed in the coming months and it will be difficult to follow them all, but the one of the now former journalist Pascale Dery is of particular interest to me because I knew her in another life. 
Her possible participation as a candidate call on me for two reasons. First, the biggest dream of Pascale was once to be a journalist! Why is she abandoning the dream she realized? Second, my upset is also related to the fact that I also left a nice career in journalism to go in the world of politics. It was in 1984 with Brian Mulroney's team. This period was the most beautiful of my life but also the most disappointing. Brian's team had the wind in the sails and we wanted to change the world, but the world did not changed... 
I have always regretted later my leaving as a journalist! 
Pascale Déry, journalist at the french network TVA, ex-assistant Julie Snyder and ex-girlfriend during a time of Stephane Laporte would soon be one of the candidates for the political party of Stephen Harper in the federal election of October 2015. 
Pascale is old 38, married with two young children. The couple lives in the riding of Mount Royal. 
I specifically known Pascale in 1996 when she was young student and asked me at Quebecor to help her on a research she did for one of her university courses at UQAM. Later, she handed me her file (CV) for a job as researcher for TQS which Quebecor had just acquired. Her dream then was to become a journalist... 
Time flies! Already 20 years ago... 
What had impressed me at the time was her father's exceptional story as a traveling dentist with a specially equipped car to provide home care (SOS Dentist). 
Pascale I wish you good luck! Although I am a pro-Justin Trudeau fan and I will vote for his candidate in my riding, I think Stephen Harper is going to be re-elected! He eliminated the deficit and his military positions are popular. Voters do not like to take risks with their vote and they prefer the values they know... 
To be continued! 
Photo 1: Harper, Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair;
Photo 2 and 5: Pascale Dery;
Photo 3: Pierre-Karl Peladeau and Julie Snyder;
Photo 4: Stephane Laporte;
SEE STORY LA PRESSE ABOUT PASCALE DERY ;